


Shirogane: Champion

by ProjectHades



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Champion Story, Gen, Gladiator Shiro (Voltron), Loss of Limbs, Origin Story, PTSD, loss of self
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-12 09:29:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15336915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProjectHades/pseuds/ProjectHades
Summary: "There was something out there that could silence any cry the soul could make. Like a haunting weight that hollowed all of him, the great expanse of void and stars stretched endlessly and unfiltered above. His breaths came in short gasps in the suit, partially fogging the visor in front of his face. Even he could feel it now, digging eldritch claws into his soul and cooing its promises of eternity floating in nothingness. It drew his breath short and swallowed him up in its awe inspiring vastness."Shiro was one of the few chosen to go the furthest out into space that any human had gone before. It was a dream come true and an honor worth taking until the future Voltron leader was taken captive by a Galra ship. His mission had been headed for failure.





	Shirogane: Champion

There was something out there that could silence any cry the soul could make. Like a haunting weight that hollowed all of him, the great expanse of void and stars stretched endlessly and unfiltered above. His breaths came in short gasps in the suit, partially fogging the visor in front of his face. Even he could feel it now, digging eldritch claws into his soul and cooing its promises of eternity floating in nothingness. It drew his breath short and swallowed him up in its awe inspiring vastness.

He loved it out there.

Commander Samual Holt and his son, Matt, were shortly behind him. They had not yet emerged from the shuttle, but he could hear their excitement buzzing over the headset. They had made it, after all. Nothing could cheapen the scientific pioneering the three of them had achieved today. After all, they stood on Pluto's smallest moon, Kerberos, and the mission had gone relatively smoothly all things considered. Sure, there was one point where Shiro had to make repairs in the vaccum of space mid-flight, but they had stayed on course and nothing irreplaceable had been damaged.

"Shiro!" Matt called, jolting him out of his daze.

"Help us get this drill secured. There will be enough time for stargazing later," Dr. Holt finished as he struggled with the equipment. Shiro smirked a bit as he propelled himself toward them.

"I don't know about you guys," Matt eased the drill down with Shiro as his father prepared to secure it to the moon's surface, "But I feel like we should say something important like 'one small step for man'."

"You don't think that's plagiarism?" Shiro bounced to the controls.

"I don't mean that line exactly! I just mean that this is a big deal. We're literally at the edge of our solar system. Shouldn't we say _something_?"

"Then say something," Commander Holt stepped back to one side of the drill as Shiro got it running and eased it down into the ice.

Matt thought for a long moment and no one else moved as the sample was taken from the moon.

"Okay, how about this: man it's pretty cool out here," Matt grinned within his helmet and The commander couldn't help his own smile and shake of his head.

The drill slowly descended into the ice as joking faded into impatient awe. Shiro was somehow glad for it; living in a small space with very extraverted scientists was hardly ever dull or peaceful. They had been talking about this day for what seemed like months as though it was just around the corner the entire time, not that he could blame them at all. He had been excited too. He just did it more quietly.

Finally the drill stopped at its predetermined length and the vibrations stilled. It mechanically withdrew and Shiro took hold of it as it came to a stop to hold it steady as Matt reached up to take the ice sample from within the cylinder. The ice shavings had covered it in a thin film of opaque white, but underneath the ice seemed clear and unbroken. A perfect sample.

"Easy, son. This ice is delicate," Commander Holt said from behind Matt as the boy held it out in front of his face.

Matt's look of sheer concentration broke into a gentle smile as he looked toward Shiro, "Amazing! Isn't this exciting, Shiro?"

"You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do," Shiro admitted with an apologetically returned smile.

"This is history in the making," The commander whispered somberly, "Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has,but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth."

"Think of it, Dad," Matt turned slightly to look toward him, "We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens."

"My life's work would be complete."

With the elder Holt's last words there arose an odd trembling across the moon's surface. It resonated up through Shiro's boots as he looked up toward the horizon line in confusion.

"What is that? Seismic activity?" That same elder frowned, but in his eyes they could all see the excitement within. If there was an earthquake- moonshake?- that would mean Kerberos might have a liquid center that allowed for glacial shifts.

Shiro, on the other hand, knew it could mean damage to their only means of returning home.

"We should get back to the ship," He told them sternly and began to move before more movement caught all of their attention.

Something huge, dull metallic purple in color and lighted strangely, quickly propelled its way in the sky above them. A great beast of a ship, the machine shook the very foundations of the planet as it soared too close for comfort and increased the gravity around them from its sheerly massive size.

"What?" Commander Holt gasped as he stepped back, "What is that?"

"It can't be."

Matt's hushed tone held everything all of them were feeling. Shiro's heart sped up as his mind emptied and his muscles tensed without action. They had to go.

They had to go.

Why couldn't he look away?

"Run!" He found his voice at last and was able to break the spell on them, "Come on, run!"

He pulled Matt's arm after him as he moved and to Commander Holt's credit, he followed.

They hadn't made it five steps before light built at the edges of Shiro's vision and a cruel heat beganto penetrate his suit. The ice and rock all around them began to crumble underfoot and rose up around them to follow the light up to the massive ship.

Then the ground gave way beneath them.

The last thing Shiro heard before the pressure darkened his consciousness was a dizzying collection of screams. Their screams.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I've been needing a good sadism outlet and I thought "who better than the one guy everyone will be rooting for?" So here's our catharsis. Let me know how I'm doing, comments are welcome, and I love all of you precious pebbles.


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